Okay, so, I have a lot of problems with the song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". It's nothing to do with the subject matter, with religious implications, morality, nonononono. None of that. There are just so many things about the ballad that don't quite add up to zero, if you know what I mean. Let me take this step by step:
The Devil went down to Georgia. He was lookin' for a soul to steal.
Okay, so, he went down to Georgia. Down. Indicating he was somewhere north of Georgia prior to his arrival in Georgia. Why could he have not stolen a soul in his previous location? Why would he choose to go to a state like Georgia to find a soul to steal? Why not go to San Francisco, or New York, or somewhere besides presumably rural Georgia? There has be better locations from which to steal souls. The reasoning behind his travel to Georgia does not bear fruit:
He was in a bind 'cause he was way behind. He was willing to make a deal
Okay, so, he was in a bind. And he was behind. This is rational; he has some sort of implied quota to meet and was behind schedule in doing so. What isn't rational, however, is that if the Devil is so desperate to meet this implied quota and is willing to jump through some hoops to catch up, this would also imply that his schedule is rigid and inflexible, which usually means that he reports to someone. Who? Who set the rigorous schedule that the Devil is now struggling to meet? The Super-Devil and his jar of orange marmalade that forces you to commit adultery?
Furthermore, my previous point is reinforced: if he was behind schedule, why would you add any travel time whatsoever? And if you did, why not to a more sinful location than rural Georgia where he could trade a crack rock for someone's soul instead of betting a golden fiddle and having this nonsense fiddle contest.
When he came across this young man sawin' on a fiddle and playin' it hot.
And the Devil jumped upon a hickory stump and said "Boy, let me tell you what."
"I bet you didn't know it, but I'm a fiddle player, too.
And if you'd care to take a dare I'll make a bet with you.
Now you play a pretty good fiddle, boy, but give the Devil his due.
I'll bet a fiddle of gold against your soul 'cause I think I'm better than you."
Okay, so, again, he chooses to take a chance rather than just go for an easy soul-steal. He blatantly assaults Johnny's ego and his skills as a fiddle player to attempt to goad him into making a deal with the Devil.
That isn't how a deal with the Devil is made; typically, there's temptation involved. Yes, there is the golden fiddle, but that's clearly secondary to the Devil's challenge against Johnny's skill at actually playing the fiddle.
It can be further proven that the golden fiddle is, while possibly an object of temptation, not the primary means by which the Devils secures this deal by the following logic: a solid gold fiddle wouldn't really be a playable fiddle, it would just be gold in the shape of a fiddle. Now, I've done a mini-study where I offered a person a rough, uncut ruby worth about $10 OR two $1 bills, cash. Almost everyone took the cash.
Now, I have a lot of rubies, and either the Devil must have a surplus of golden fiddles or he doesn't realize that people will almost always be more tempted by fluid cash than something that can be exchanged for cash. And what I'm implying by that is that the Devil, being the master of temptation, must surely be aware of this, so once again something does not add up with this song. He should've just offered Johnny some cash if indeed he was desperate enough to make this deal to take the difficult route of beating a skilled fiddle player in a fiddle contest over just stealing someone's soul and meeting aforementioned quota.
The boy said, "My name's Johnny, and it might be a sin,
But I'll take your bet; and you're gonna regret 'cause I'm the best there's ever been."
...
The Devil opened up his case and he said, "I'll start this show."
And fire flew from his fingertips as he rosined up his bow.
And he pulled the bow across the strings and it made an evil hiss.
And a band of demons joined in and it sounded something like this.
Okay, so, what the hell is this? A band of demons joined in? I thought this was a fiddle contest, not a battle of the bands. Also, at this point, one must ask: who is judging this contest? Who is picking the winner? Nobody, that's who. It's utter chaos at this point; this song just does not add up.
When the Devil finished, Johnny said, "Well, you're pretty good ol' son,
But sit down in that chair right there and let me show you how it's done."
"Fire on the Mountain." Run, boys, run!
The Devil's in the house of the rising sun;
Chicken's in the bread pan picking out dough.
Granny, does your dog bite? No, child, no.
The Devil bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat.
And he laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny's feet.
Johnny said, "Devil, just come on back if you ever wanna try again,
'Cause I've told you once--you son of a [B-word]--I'm the best there's ever been."
And he played:
Okay, so, once again, who's judging this contest? If I were judging it, I'd say the Devil's part was clearly better. In any case, it was a close enough contest that the lord of deceit and trickery wouldn't just admit defeat and give up one of his golden fiddles, of which he apparently has a finite quantity. There would be some sort of catch where the Devil wins no matter what - that's kind of the Devil's thing. That's why you don't ever make a deal with the Devil.
There's more, this song is on my playlist and every time I hear it I find something else with it that doesn't quite add up. It's driving me so insane that I think insane is in the rearview mirror at this point. Grr.
The Devil went down to Georgia. He was lookin' for a soul to steal.
Okay, so, he went down to Georgia. Down. Indicating he was somewhere north of Georgia prior to his arrival in Georgia. Why could he have not stolen a soul in his previous location? Why would he choose to go to a state like Georgia to find a soul to steal? Why not go to San Francisco, or New York, or somewhere besides presumably rural Georgia? There has be better locations from which to steal souls. The reasoning behind his travel to Georgia does not bear fruit:
He was in a bind 'cause he was way behind. He was willing to make a deal
Okay, so, he was in a bind. And he was behind. This is rational; he has some sort of implied quota to meet and was behind schedule in doing so. What isn't rational, however, is that if the Devil is so desperate to meet this implied quota and is willing to jump through some hoops to catch up, this would also imply that his schedule is rigid and inflexible, which usually means that he reports to someone. Who? Who set the rigorous schedule that the Devil is now struggling to meet? The Super-Devil and his jar of orange marmalade that forces you to commit adultery?
Furthermore, my previous point is reinforced: if he was behind schedule, why would you add any travel time whatsoever? And if you did, why not to a more sinful location than rural Georgia where he could trade a crack rock for someone's soul instead of betting a golden fiddle and having this nonsense fiddle contest.
When he came across this young man sawin' on a fiddle and playin' it hot.
And the Devil jumped upon a hickory stump and said "Boy, let me tell you what."
"I bet you didn't know it, but I'm a fiddle player, too.
And if you'd care to take a dare I'll make a bet with you.
Now you play a pretty good fiddle, boy, but give the Devil his due.
I'll bet a fiddle of gold against your soul 'cause I think I'm better than you."
Okay, so, again, he chooses to take a chance rather than just go for an easy soul-steal. He blatantly assaults Johnny's ego and his skills as a fiddle player to attempt to goad him into making a deal with the Devil.
That isn't how a deal with the Devil is made; typically, there's temptation involved. Yes, there is the golden fiddle, but that's clearly secondary to the Devil's challenge against Johnny's skill at actually playing the fiddle.
It can be further proven that the golden fiddle is, while possibly an object of temptation, not the primary means by which the Devils secures this deal by the following logic: a solid gold fiddle wouldn't really be a playable fiddle, it would just be gold in the shape of a fiddle. Now, I've done a mini-study where I offered a person a rough, uncut ruby worth about $10 OR two $1 bills, cash. Almost everyone took the cash.
Now, I have a lot of rubies, and either the Devil must have a surplus of golden fiddles or he doesn't realize that people will almost always be more tempted by fluid cash than something that can be exchanged for cash. And what I'm implying by that is that the Devil, being the master of temptation, must surely be aware of this, so once again something does not add up with this song. He should've just offered Johnny some cash if indeed he was desperate enough to make this deal to take the difficult route of beating a skilled fiddle player in a fiddle contest over just stealing someone's soul and meeting aforementioned quota.
The boy said, "My name's Johnny, and it might be a sin,
But I'll take your bet; and you're gonna regret 'cause I'm the best there's ever been."
...
The Devil opened up his case and he said, "I'll start this show."
And fire flew from his fingertips as he rosined up his bow.
And he pulled the bow across the strings and it made an evil hiss.
And a band of demons joined in and it sounded something like this.
Okay, so, what the hell is this? A band of demons joined in? I thought this was a fiddle contest, not a battle of the bands. Also, at this point, one must ask: who is judging this contest? Who is picking the winner? Nobody, that's who. It's utter chaos at this point; this song just does not add up.
When the Devil finished, Johnny said, "Well, you're pretty good ol' son,
But sit down in that chair right there and let me show you how it's done."
"Fire on the Mountain." Run, boys, run!
The Devil's in the house of the rising sun;
Chicken's in the bread pan picking out dough.
Granny, does your dog bite? No, child, no.
The Devil bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat.
And he laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny's feet.
Johnny said, "Devil, just come on back if you ever wanna try again,
'Cause I've told you once--you son of a [B-word]--I'm the best there's ever been."
And he played:
Okay, so, once again, who's judging this contest? If I were judging it, I'd say the Devil's part was clearly better. In any case, it was a close enough contest that the lord of deceit and trickery wouldn't just admit defeat and give up one of his golden fiddles, of which he apparently has a finite quantity. There would be some sort of catch where the Devil wins no matter what - that's kind of the Devil's thing. That's why you don't ever make a deal with the Devil.
There's more, this song is on my playlist and every time I hear it I find something else with it that doesn't quite add up. It's driving me so insane that I think insane is in the rearview mirror at this point. Grr.
